


Broke Into a Car (then my heart)

by Talinor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, First Meeting, Flirting, Fluff, Genderswap, Modern AU, Number Exchanges
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 05:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15623997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talinor/pseuds/Talinor
Summary: Across the road from the gas station was a small collection of miscellaneous shops and restaurants. Naturally, most of the space on that side was reserved for a spacious parking lot. Whenever she got a chance to see it, it was never even close to completely full. Today was no exception to that rule. But the few parked cars and people who drove them were always unassuming. They never did anything to catch attention or draw it towards them.The girl who seemed hellbent on breaking into one of the cars apparently didn't get that memo. It was way too difficult to make out any distinguishing features from the gas station, so Shiro took it upon herself to take the next logical step.





	Broke Into a Car (then my heart)

**Author's Note:**

> I know, sappy and stupid title but  
> listen  
> I Adore sheith but i Really wanted to do something with fem sheith  
> this was the eventual result  
> enjoy!

Today seemed to be like any other for Shiro. Work started early at 5, and stole the morning chill- if you could even call it that- away to leave her driving home in her age-old truck at 4. 4 in the afternoon, when devilish heat had long settled to torment those who dared step outside. Or had a broken AC in their cars. Which, of course, she did. She had an appointment to get it looked at, but that wasn't until the end of the week.

For now, she had to endure. With some help from the nearest gas station, where she restocked on fuel for both her car and herself before heading back home. Where each cashier knew her quite well by now. Where she currently found herself, minding her own business until something peculiar caught her eye.

Or really, _someone._

Across the road from the gas station was a small collection of miscellaneous shops and restaurants. Naturally, most of the space on that side was reserved for a spacious parking lot. Whenever she got a chance to see it, it was never even close to completely full. Today was no exception to that rule. But the few parked cars and people who drove them were always unassuming. They never did anything to catch attention or draw it towards them.

The girl who seemed hellbent on breaking into one of the cars apparently didn't get that memo. It was way too difficult to make out any distinguishing features from the gas station, so Shiro took it upon herself to take the next logical step.

She quickly walked into the actual station and looked to the unoccupied cashier, an auburn and choppy haired teen most mistook for a child due to their height. "Pidge," she said. "I'll be right back. Could you keep an eye on my car?"

They naturally gave her a suspicious look. She imagined if anyone else had asked, they would have unleashed a flurry of questions upon her in seconds. However, she knew they knew her better than that by now. Her and their older sister were childhood friends. She knew Pidge had figured out an important principle about her- the less they knew, the better. 

So the look gradually disappeared. "Sure thing," they told her. "I'll text you if Ol' Black fills up while you're gone."

Shiro shot them a quick smile before she left. "Thank you!" She called behind her as she broke out into a sprint to the crosswalk. It wasn't too far, but she could see the meter to the other side slowly counting down. Warning her that her window was closing.

Sure, she could always go the other way on the four-way intersection, but she didn't feel like wasting time. This could potentially be important. She wanted to get over to the culprit quickly (without breaking the law herself, of course).

It was close- with barely a second to spare before the signal changed- but she didn't focus on that for long. She made her way over to the oblivious woman intent on breaking into the car who hadn't seemed to notice her yet. Shiro slowed to a walk to keep it that way.

As she got closer, the woman's profile became much clearer. Shiro looked her over as deliberately as possible and soaked in every detail she possibly could. She wanted a clear picture just in case she had to describe her to the police if things went wrong here.

Admittedly, it wasn't too difficult to focus on the mysterious woman. She was quite striking. She stood just a bit shorter than Shiro. Her pale skin glistened with sweat. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied back with a maroon bandanna, but a few unruly strands had managed to escape their imprisonment. Her eyes were dark and intense, focused entirely on... something in this dingy old car. (It didn't even have a license plate. What could she want in there?) Her thick brows were furrowed, her lips drawn into a thin determined line. Her dark gray t-shirt did little to hide her lithely-toned arms straining with a wire wedged in the car's back passenger door. A red flannel shirt was tied around her waist over black skinny jeans. Her calf-high boots were red and white, outlined in thick black interconnected lines.

She was definitely memorable.

As soon as Shiro got behind her, she crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, ma'am," she said calmly, with only a hint of a threatening tone. "But what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The woman jumped a bit in surprise and whirled around to meet Shiro face to face. She looked up at the taller woman with a hint of sheepishness. "Oh." She said, quickly looking Shiro over. "Hi. Listen. This... isn't what it looks like, I _swear."_

"Really?" Shiro raised a brow in still-rising suspicion. "'Cause it looks to me like you're trying to break into," she gestured to the car. "This car. Am I wrong about that?" She used her height to her advantage, stepping closer to the woman to hopefully intimidate her.

She paused for a moment, but she didn't flinch or back away. "...Okay," she admitted. "It is what it looks like."

"Glad you can admit that," Shiro told her. "You're honest, at least." She shot the stranger a cold glare. "But I already figured that. I came over here for answers. So tell me why I shouldn't be calling the police on you right now."

The sheepishness dissipated. The hardness in her eyes was quick to make a reappearance. "Fuck words," she said. "I'll just show you why." With that, she stepped to the side to reveal the car's lone passenger- a gray pit bull. A pretty young, barely grown one at that. One that was panting far too fast for comfort.

The glare quickly dropped off Shiro's expression. "...Ah," she said simply. "I see." She gave the woman a questioning look. "Have you...?"

"...Called the police?" The woman finished for her. "Yup. Multiple times. Last one told me they'd be here in 15 minutes. That was 45 minutes ago. I also went through here," she pointed to the little costume store the car was parked in front of. "And asked around for the owner so I could tell them how much of a shithead they are. My... acquaintance Lana works over at the Castle of Pets a few stores down, and she's still calling the other stores for any info." 

She looked back at the poor dog softly. "But dehydration and heat stroke isn't gonna wait for long, so neither am I." She grabbed onto the wire and started trying again. "Illegally or not, I'm not gonna sit by and let this dog die. Call the police on me if you want. I don't give a shit."

Shiro was silent in contemplation for a moment. At one point she considered asking why she didn't just break the window, but that question answered itself. The poor puppy was already having a rough time. The woman was probably just trying not to add 'cut/bleeding paws' on its already big list of current issues. Speaking of which...

"I have another question real quick, ma'am."

She didn't even stop to look at Shiro. "Shoot," she said. "And it's Keita. Keita Kogane. Cut it out with the 'ma'am' stuff, please."

"Okay," Shiro said with a casual shrug. She stepped closer to the other woman. "Well, Keita, I see you're trying to dislodge the lock mechanism. You're pretty close, but do you mind if I correct it for you?"

Keita paused, then sighed. "Sure thing," she said. "If you think you can crack it, knock yourself out." She began to move away, but was quick to freeze up as soon as Shiro put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold on," she said calmly. "We need to do it together for it to work." She moved closer behind Keita's back. "Do you mind if I...?" How should she say this to someone she just met? "...show you? How to do it together, I mean?" She didn't want to just rush into things, but they didn't really have time to waste.

Keita gave her a confused look. "What do you mean by-" a wave of realization washed over her expression. "Ohh, yeah. I mean, it's fine. Go on ahead." Shiro was almost certain that the pink tinting her cheeks wasn't from the heat.

That was all Shiro needed. She moved right behind Keita, leaving no space between them. Her hands moved to grasp the wire close to Keita's own. They let Shiro adjust the placement ever so slightly to the right place. 

As soon as she heard the slightest click, Shiro smiled to herself. "That's good," she told Keita, her lips probably too close to her ear, judging by how tightly wound her body currently was. "We just have to slowly work it away." She began to pull the wire in the right direction ever so slowly. "Be patient. You have to focus."

Keita nodded curtly. "I am focusing," he said. "What are we supposed to wait for?"

"Another click," Shiro informed her. "It'll be louder. As soon as that goes off, we have to yank the wire out."

"...That'll dislodge the lock," Keita said, as if coming to a realization. "Which would leave the door able to be opened. Of _course."_ She tried her best to look over at Shiro. "Quick question, though."

"Go ahead."

She saw one of Keita's thick eyebrows raise. "I'm a mechanic, though I don't usually have to do this," she explained. "What's your excuse for knowing how to pick a lock, Miss...?"

"Takaro Shirogane," she answered first. "Though most of my friends call me Shiro. I wouldn't mind if you did too." She couldn't help but smile in slight embarrassment when she prepared the second part of her answer. "And to be honest? I got obsessed with studying lockpicking for months back in high school. The information just... kind of stuck with me."

"Why?" Keita asked, her eyes fluttering between Shiro and the wire. Her body was slowly relaxing. "Were you just bored, a bit of a troublemaker, or...?"

"None of the above. I-" she chuckled to herself. "God, it's so stupid. You probably don't wanna know."

"Don't cop out on me now, Shiro," Keita teased. "Ya' have me hooked." She shot Shiro a sly look. "You would leave me hanging now, would you?"

It took a moment and a few more degrees accumulated in Shiro's face to realize Keita wasn't entirely serious. But what the hell. Why not? "Since you asked so nicely, sure," she acquiesced. "I picked it up because... I thought it would impress cute girls."

"Oh," Keita went silent for a moment. "...Has it?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "Closest I got was my best friend Maddy, but one- she's told me repeatedly that though she's bi, I'm not really her type. And two- she's seen me do so much embarrassing stuff, I don't think I'd ever be able to impress her in ten thousand years. So no. It hasn't worked."

In that moment, the click both of them had waited for sounded. In soundless sync they did exactly as they were supposed to. It took a bit of straining from both parties to pull the stubborn wire out, but with their combined strength, it was only a matter of seconds. As soon as the wire was free, the door opened slightly. The dog was quick to embrace freedom and jump at Keita. The unexpected enthusiasm was enough to knock them both down to the scorching asphalt.

Keita laughed giddily, screwing her eyes shut as her face was assaulted by a sudden onslaught of slobbery dog kisses. The dog seemed determined to make... _his_ gratitude loud and clear. Shiro allowed herself a moment to admire the adorable picture in front of her before standing up.

The movement only attracted the dog's attention. He quickly switched targets, jumping up at Shiro to try and give her the same treatment as his other savior recovering from his onslaught of love. And possibly to get away from the scorching heat on his sensitive paws. 

With that thought in mind, Shiro gave in to his enthusiastic demands and scooped him up in her arms. His body still wiggled a bit in excitement, but he knew better than to move too much now. He resigned himself from draping his front legs over her shoulders and licking the face now ready and available for him. He only barely blocked the view of Keita trying to hold in her laughter, however.

"Come on," she said. "Castle of Pets isn't too far away from here. It has tile, air conditioning, and I'm sure Lana already has a water and food bowl ready for this little guy." At the last few words, she rubbed at the dog's back, her voice tinted ever so slightly with the baby tone. His tail made a loud whapping noise whenever it hit her arm in its enthusiastic and chaotic wagging.

"Okay," Shiro said. "Lead the way."

Keita began to head toward the pet shop, but she looked back at Shiro gratefully. "By the way?" She smiled. "Thanks. Y'know, for helping me out back there. And... for not calling the cops on me."

"Hey," Shiro shrugged and struggled to speak without risking dog saliva in her mouth. "It wasn't a problem. At all." Thankfully, the walk didn't take too long. She sighed in relief as the cool air of the nearly empty shop washed over her heated skin.

"Lana," Keita said. "I got the little guy out. With some help."

"I can see that," a new voice, presumably Lana, cooed. "Who's this beautiful stranger you got?"

Shiro finally let the dog down gently. "Shiro," she told the lone store clerk. "It's... nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," she said, putting a full water bowl down on the floor. "Drink up, little buddy." She gave the dog enthusiastically following her order a friendly pat. "I've got things from here, Keita. If you wanna, you can go." She looked over to Shiro admiringly. "You can stay if you want, though." Admittedly pretty blue eyes winked at her.

"I'm..." her eyes flickered over to Keita's disdainful expression. She didn't meet Shiro's eyes and left the store without a word. "...good, thanks. I probably need to get back to my car, anyways."

Lana shrugged casually. "Okay, cariña. Just a bit of advice-" she leaned closer to Takaro on the counter. "Keita seems like a pretty abstract little painting, but I recommend you keep your distance. The closer you get, the sooner you realize how much of a mismatched disaster she really is." With that, she quickly disappeared into the back and out of sight. Shiro was quick to leave to catch up with a still stewing Keita.

"That was... weird," she said. "Something there you want me to know about, or too sore a subject?"

"Latter," was the only word Keita uttered thick with enough venom to kill a mongoose within seconds.

"Okay then," she said. For a moment, they walked together in silence. Shiro didn't really know what else to say. So she went for the first icebreaker she could think of.

"Did it work?"

Keita looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I told you I learned lockpicking to impress cute girls," she explained bashfully. "It hasn't worked yet, but I wanted to know." She shot Keita a shy smile. "Did it, uh... work this time?"

Shock enveloped Keita's expression, but it quickly melted into a soft yet unreadable expression. "I dunno about the 'cute' part," she said. "But you impressed me. I hope that's good enough for you, Shiro."

"It is, trust me." She told Keita. "More than just 'enough', actually." She paused at the crosswalk. "Hey... you said you're a mechanic, right?"

Keita raised a brow. "Yeah," she answered. "Does your car need fixing?"

Shiro quickly nodded. "AC's broken, and my appointment to get it looked at is at the end of the week." She gave Keita a hopeful look. "Any advice?"

Keita seemed to understand what she really meant. "Sure thing," she said. "Just give me your number and I could look at it for you."

Shiro chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Tempting," she teased. "But I'm already getting it looked at. What do you have to offer me?"

"For one," thankfully, Keita knew this little dance. She didn't seem to mind doing the steps. "A cute girl, by your standards." She gestured to herself, and moved over to Shiro's ear. "Second," she whispered. "Said cute girl could look at it for you... for _free."_

Shiro faked a shudder. The two only kept up the flirtatious charade for a few seconds more before dissolving into laughter. "Sweet talker," Shiro chided. "You've won me over. Gimme your phone." She reached into her side pocket to hand over her own. They exchanged quickly, and it didn't take long for the other to be a contact in each other's phones.

"You free on Wednesday?" Keita asked, handing Shiro's phone back and taking her own.

"Yes, actually." she said. "Do you wanna meet somewhere?"

"How do you feel about Vrepit Sal's at 12?"

"Sure thing," Shiro said. "I guess it's a... date then?"

"Yup," Keita nodded politely. "See you then, Takaro."

The crosswalk signs changed, and the two parted ways. Throughout the walk to her car and the subsequent drive home, Shiro pondered the unique experience she just had.

Most importantly, the sound of Keita's voice saying her name. She definitely wouldn't mind more of that. A lot more, if she was lucky.

She was _really_ looking forward to Wednesday now.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr: squishy--squish  
> please leave a comment! i Love getting feedback from you guys!


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